Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor, speaking publicly for the first time since he suffered a career-threatening neck injury last season, said he wants to continue playing if his health permits.
“If my body says I can play, I’m playing,” he told 13News Now in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, before repeating that line. “If my body says don’t play, I’m not playing. I’ll listen. I’m a very good listener.”
The 30-year-old Chancellor added: “I don’t see myself as old. I feel like I’m still in my prime, so it’s not an age thing at all. It’s just a matter of structural issues in the neck and if they change or not.”
Kam Chancellor’s future is still up in the air following a neck injury he suffered last season. Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports
Avril, who also suffered a serious neck injury last season, was released by the Seahawks earlier this month with a failed-physical designation.
While updates from the team on Chancellor’s status have been infrequent, general manager John Schneider said before the draft that he was scheduled to have a scan in late June or early July that would provide some clarity to his future. In an apparent reference to that scheduled scan, Chancellor later wrote on Instagram, “After this exam, God will direct me on which way to go. He always has, always will. I listen, and I follow.”
With Chancellor’s future up in the air, Bradley McDougald is projected to start at safety for Seattle alongside Earl Thomas. Seattle signed McDougald to a three-year deal in March after he made seven starts for the team in 2017, including the final seven for Chancellor at strong safety.
Chancellor signed a three-year, $36 million extension last summer. His $6.8 million base salary for 2018 became fully guaranteed in February.
Chancellor’s comments came during his annual event in Norfolk, Bam Bam’s Spring Jam. According to the station, this year’s event raised $10,000 in scholarship money for his alma mater, Maury High School.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Blake Bortles has plenty of things he wants to improve on over the next several months before the Jacksonville Jaguars begin the 2018 regular season, but he hit the practice field for the team’s first organized team activity with nothing to prove.
That isn’t a position he has been in much in his previous four seasons with the team.
Bortles has a new contract, some new players and playmakers on offense, and a new confidence that comes from playing in an offensive system he likes — a system that helped produce the best season of his career in 2017. That can only be a good thing for the team that came within 10 minutes of making the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
“It’s a little bit unfair because I was just getting to know him last year, but I really did notice a certain level of comfort [on Tuesday] as opposed to a year ago,” quarterback coach Scott Milanovich said. “Now a year ago, I was still learning this offense, too. We kind of leaned on each other a little bit, but his confidence has clearly grown.”
Bortles heads into the 2018 season not worrying about his mechanics and holding onto his job, not answering questions about the team’s decision to pick up his fifth-year option, not trying to prove to his teammates that he can be their leader, not learning a new offense and not adjusting to a new coordinator.
Putting those concerns behind him has been important. Playing quarterback in the NFL isn’t easy, but it is made much simpler when a player can concentrate on deepening his understanding of the offense so adjustments, audibles and tweaks become almost second nature.
Blake Bortles played turnover-free football in three playoff games last season. AP Photo/Steven Senne
“I think any time you feel you get the support of the locker room, that definitely helps just playing quarterback, and I felt that I had that all last year,” Bortles said. “The contract stuff doesn’t really change anything about how I think or how I approach every day. I think the biggest difference going into this year is just the fact that we’re going into Year 2 with [coordinator] Nathaniel [Hackett] and having him calling plays for the second year in a row.
“Having that continuity and being out there, trying to coach the guys and being able to be there and help those guys out rather than this time last year, I’m trying to learn it right there with him.”
Bortles said Hackett tells him regularly that he should know the offense better than anyone else in the building — including Hackett. That might be a bit of a stretch, but Marrone said one of the biggest differences he sees in Bortles from the end of the 2017 season is an increased knowledge and understanding of the “why” part of the offense. As in, why Hackett is calling that particular play at that particular time against that particular defense or front with that personnel group at that particular point on the field.
“I think that if I have seen anything that would be the difference, it’s that he has a better understanding of what we were doing on offense because last year was the first year,” coach Doug Marrone said. “I have always believed that when your quarterback is ahead of everyone and the rest of the offense has to catch up, that is a pretty good thing. You don’t want the quarterback trying to catch up to the rest of the offensive players. I think that Blake is in a good spot from there, as far as what he knows of the offense, what we want to do.”
Bortles wasn’t there at this point last year. He was in prove-it mode. Even though the team had picked up his fifth-year option — a move that was widely panned by football analysts — and hadn’t drafted or signed a quarterback, Bortles didn’t exactly have a strong hold on his future with the franchise.
Having the worst season of an otherwise average to below-average career will do that to you.
Bortles was a mess in 2016. His mechanics deteriorated to the point that his college offensive coordinator didn’t recognize him, he threw 16 interceptions (including three pick-sixes), and the Jaguars won just three games. By the end of it, Bortles was admittedly somewhat of a mental mess.
He spent much of the early part of the offseason in California working on his mechanics at 3DQB, then had to learn a new offense — his third since he was drafted third overall in 2014. He was learning from Hackett, who was his position coach in 2016 until taking over as the coordinator when then-coach Gus Bradley fired Greg Olson during the season.
Things didn’t go well at first. Bortles had a five-interception practice early in training camp last August and got pulled from a practice days later. Then Marrone opened up the quarterback job after Bortles’ dismal performance in the second preseason game.
But Bortles won the job back, played solidly but not spectacularly for much of the season, was the league’s top-rated quarterback for three weeks in December and played turnover-free football in three playoff games. He completed 60 percent of his passes for the first time and cut down significantly on his turnovers (16, five fewer than his average in his first three seasons).
That landed him a contract extension (three years, $54 million, $26.5 million guaranteed) and something even more valuable: renewed confidence and some peace of mind.
Le’Veon Bell raps in a new song released this weekend that he feels targeted by those criticizing him for his contract drama with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The star running back announced the song’s release on social media.
New Single “Target” out everywhere on all music sites…I hope youu all enjoy this banger…I appreciate all the positive feedback from everyone ??https://t.co/sEYEiNPtWj pic.twitter.com/lwLGJJI5pl
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) May 26, 2018
In the track titled “Target,” Bell, who has stayed away from the Steelers’ offseason program and organized team activities after being franchised for the second straight year, raps that he’s not the “bad guy” that he’s made out to be by his critics.
The song references him being tagged, the way his critics have turned on him during his contract dispute, people saying he’s out of shape by skipping team workouts, and his drug suspensions. He points out that he never failed a test and never violated the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Bell’s 2016 suspension for violating the substance abuse policy (which was reduced from four games to three after appeal) was for missed tests. His three-game suspension in 2015 under the policy was after an arrest for marijuana possession and DUI in 2014.
Le’Veon Bell tweeted Thursday that it’s “hard to be a hero in a city that paints you out to be the villain,” apparently venting his frustration at negative reaction to his contract drama with the Steelers.
1 Related
A sampling of the lyrics, via Genius.com:
“Wonder why they treat me like the bad guy/You say I ain’t the best, but that’s a bad lie …
“… If I don’t do what you want, then you want me gone/I must say, you being real aggressive/The way you switch up on me real impressive …”
“… You can see I’m doing shows, so you think I’m out of shape ..”
“… All these people wanna trade/I’m the one they wanna hate/So to me, I’m a target …”
“… I think that I need a break/You know that I wanna stay/Some people just can’t relate/Just look at my point of view/I don’t have the time to waste …”
“… You think if I sat out, I’d be sluggish/You think they won’t pay me ’cause a drug test/Fun fact, I ain’t never failed one, that’s on me/You so worried ’bout the weed, what ’bout those PEDs …”
Bell has also addressed his critics via social media this offseason when he tweeted in March about being portrayed as a “villain” in Pittsburgh.
Bell earned $12.12 million on last year’s tag and would earn $14.5 million this year unless both sides reach a long-term deal. The deadline to reach that deal is July 16 at 4 p.m. Bell waited until Sept. 1 to show up last year after talks stalled. He told ESPN in March that he won’t agree to a contract that averages less than $14.5 million annually.
In 2017, Bell finished third in the NFL in rushing (1,291) and added a career-high 85 catches for 655 yards in 15 games.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Four years ago, when Moubarak Djeri was starting his career with the Cologne Crocodiles of the German Football League, he first brought up the idea of playing in the NFL with coach Patrick Kopper.
Kopper was supportive, but warned the then-18-year-old that he needed to be realistic. It was going to be hard. NFL players were bigger, faster and stronger, and to compete with them, Djeri would have to work out “like a beast.”
But Kopper didn’t try to dissuade Djeri from chasing his dream.
“I know they are big, but why not?” Djeri remembered saying then. “Why not to try? Why say right now, no and all this stuff. Why not to try?”
Djeri’s pursuit of the NFL, with a wide-eyed naiveté, ultimately served him well. In March, he went from playing for free with the Crocodiles to a tryout and, ultimately, a contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
Crocodiles offensive coordinator David Odenthal, a native German who grew up playing for the club before receiving a scholarship to play at the University of Toledo and who spent time in two NFL camps before playing in NFL Europe, loved Djeri’s optimism.
Before Moubarak Djeri got his dream tryout with the Cardinals, he was playing for free in the German Football League. Courtesy of the Arizona Cardinals
“I like and liked the way he thinks about it,” Odenthal said. “He doesn’t know or doesn’t care about all the things that go on about playing in the NFL. He didn’t know how hard it actually is and that makes him so special. I know he meant it when he said it.”
Odenthal and other Crocodiles coaches started preparing Djeri for the long road ahead of him. They peppered him with stories of going through two-a-days in NFL Europe followed by meetings all night. All it did was motivate Djeri.
“I said, ‘OK, if they both have to work that hard to play in the NFL Europe, I have to work more to be in the NFL,'” Djeri said. “And I started working out every day like for four, five hours.”
Two years ago, Odenthal told Djeri that if he continued to work hard, he would help him get to America to play football. Odenthal had an in. He not only played college football and in NFL Europe, but he had two connections to the Cardinals. He had been scouted by Arizona’s current general manager, Steve Keim, while at Toledo, and he had developed a relationship with Ryan Gold, a Cardinals scout, when Gold was an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts. Gold had recruited two of Odenthal’s offensive linemen.
But, two years later, Djeri was still waiting for a bite from the NFL.
In the meantime, teams around Europe had started recruiting him. And they were able to offer him something the Crocodiles couldn’t: money. They saw the potential in Djeri, a 6-foot-4, 268-pound player who showed burst off the edge and enough speed to get into backfields as well as track down receivers past the line of scrimmage.
The allure of getting paid for the first time in his football career at age 22, four years in, was tempting.
“With this payment, I can help my family,” Djeri told ESPN.
What Djeri didn’t know was Gold had reached out to Odenthal in September to see if he had any interesting prospects. Odenthal mentioned Djeri.
Djeri’s film was passed around the Cardinals’ scouting department and, Gold said, the team thought there was an upside.
Gold liked Djeri’s foot speed, natural bend and power. But what was most enticing to the Cardinals was that since Djeri hadn’t gone to college, he was, in the NFL’s eyes, a free agent and not a draft-eligible prospect. So if the Cardinals were interested in signing him, they could bring him in for a tryout and not risk losing him in the draft.
And that’s what they did.
***
Djeri was 6 years old and living in Togo, a small West African country, when he saw American football on TV for the first time.
He instantly fell in love.
Like any kid enthralled with a new sport, he went straight to his mother and asked to play. He doesn’t think she knew what the sport was at the time, but she still gave him a resounding “no.” Her reasons for not letting him play fell in line with those of many American parents today: “You’re going to get hurt,” she told him.
“Like moms are,” Djeri said.
For the next five years, Djeri continued to watch American football on TV with a child’s wonderment.
Then Djeri — 11 at the time — his mother and his four siblings moved to Germany to reunite with his father, whom Djeri said he hadn’t really know. He asked to play football again after they moved, but this time both parents nixed the idea, and he started playing the other football — soccer. Djeri stuck with the sport for seven years, but he started to outgrow the other kids on the pitch. He was too physical, and all that contact quickly led to penalty cards, so his coaches put him in net. He flourished as a goalkeeper, leading his team to a league championship.
But Djeri wasn’t satisfied. European football wasn’t cutting it. He still wanted to play the football he had grown up watching on TV.
So he did what any younger sibling would do: He went to his older brother to plead his case to play American football. Djeri’s brother, six years his elder, told him he would cover for Djeri with their parents if Djeri wanted to try.
Djeri, 18 at the time, had gotten his chance, but he would have to play covertly. And he did, until one day his mother saw him with his pads. She asked what they were, and Djeri confessed to playing football behind her back. She wasn’t pleased. Djeri bargained with her. He had a game on Sunday that week, he told her, and he wanted her to come to it. If she still didn’t like that he was playing, he’d quit. If she liked it, he’d continue.
She went.
And she never stopped going to a home game.
“She’s come to support me and watch me. That’s the big motivation I had,” Djeri said. “My family supports me, too. My big brother supports me in what I do, but right now my mom’s coming, and after that my dad.
“My mom loved that I played football.”
***
Djeri’s tryout with the Cardinals lasted 15 minutes.
Cardinals defensive-line coach Don Johnson put Djeri through a set of drills that tested his mental and physical mettle. Arizona wanted to know how Djeri could handle a hard workout and what kind of shape he was in.
“I was so nervous,” Djeri said. “In the tryout, I couldn’t breathe.”
He took a few big deep breaths, and then the tryout began. At one point, Djeri felt like he was blacking out, but refused to stop. He wanted to show the Cardinals how badly he wanted to play in the NFL.
When it was over, Djeri started crying.
“I said, ‘Coach, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it better.’ He said, ‘No, take a shower. We’re going to talk after,'” Djeri remembered. “I was in the locker room and I started crying. I said, ‘Damn, I missed it.’ After that, coach came in. He said, ‘Hey, you made it well. We like your get-off.’ I thought I didn’t make it good.
“He said, ‘We would like to make you an Arizona Cardinal.’ I was like, ‘OK, stop crying, stop crying.’”
The Cardinals signed Djeri to a three-year deal. If he makes the team, he’ll make $480,000 this year, $570,000 next year and $660,000 in 2020.
When Odenthal found out Djeri had been signed, he got goosebumps and tears filled his eyes.
“From Day 1, I knew he will be something special,” Kopper said. “He is absolutely fearless and gives everything he has on every single down. He loves the game from the bottom of his heart.”
Djeri’s journey to the NFL is just beginning. But the 22-year-old is used to starting from scratch and fighting the odds. Cardinals coach Steve Wilks called him a project. But Djeri has been making strides. After a few weeks on the field, Djeri said the biggest adjustment has been the tempo. That’s to be expected for someone who’s not just new to the NFL but new to the American style of football.
Djeri isn’t satisfied with getting a tryout or getting signed. He wants to make the Cardinals’ 53-man roster.
“I say I have to think that I can make it,” Djeri said. “If I think I couldn’t make it then I’m never going to make it. If I think I’m going to make it, I’m going to make it or not.
“I don’t want to say it’s easy because it’s a competition. I’m hoping and I try my best to make the team, and that’s why I’m here. At the end of the offseason program, I want to be on the field and I want to play.”
Gold likes what he’s seen from Djeri, but there’s work to be done.
“I think he’s going to just have to keep getting better,” Gold said of Djeri making the team. “He’s going to have good days and bad days — learn from the bad and don’t get too excited about the good ones.”
When Djeri got the contract offer from the Cardinals in March, he said he felt like a weight was lifted off of him. It has been 16 years since he first saw a football game, 11 years since he asked to play in Germany and four years since his brother covered for him as he began playing.
